Why and How

Businesses Should Blog

Your Presenter

Jamie SmithJamie’s Notebook

Jamiesnotebook.com

@JamiesNotebook

jamie@jamiesnotebook.co

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Don’t worry about writing this all

down word for word. I will tweet out a

copy of my presentation later or I can

email it to you. I make them wordy so

you can understand the notes later.

What exactly is a blog?

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which

is a term used to describe websites that maintain an

ongoing chronicle of information.

Used to provide ongoing updates to the company

website and to share information, insights

Examples of blogs:

http://lindarichardsphotography.com/blog/

http://ontimelogistics.wordpress.com/

http://arvestblog.com/

Why Should Businesses Blog?

Search Engine Optimization

(SEO)

Industry leadership

Community building

Brand accessibility

Marketing standard

SEO: Spider Food Search engine optimization is how people find

your website. People who find your website are more likely to buy from you.

Good SEO practices include using keywords effectively and producing frequent, fresh content that your audience would want to read and might be searching for online.

No way to optimize or keyword for everything

Focus on long-tail keywords as people use them more. Think of short phrases people would search, not just individual words.

Industry Leadership

Posts don’t have to be profound to be

thoughtful.

Reflect and share, don’t flaunt.

Post content related to industry news,

which shows your credibility and

knowledge.

Community Building

The comments section invites people to

contribute their thoughts, and comments

beget comments.

People have a tendency to “congregate”

digitally around blogs or social media

platforms that they mutually enjoy. Build

that meeting place for your audience

with fresh, interesting content.

Brand Accessibility

Your company is made up of human

beings, show it!

Highlight employees, provide personal

insights, and other glimpses into your

company culture.

Blogs help take away the “antiseptic

feel” of a faceless corporation and helps

show the humans behind the brand.

People do business with people,

especially in small business.

Marketing Standard

Blogging is a current content marketing

standard and for good reason. B2B

marketers that use blogs receive 67%

more leads than those that do not.

Marketers who have prioritized blogging

are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.

People have come to expect companies to

engage them using blogs and social media.

If you don’t keep up, it will give the

perception that you don’t care.

Where Do I Start?

Using WordPress? You’re ahead of

the game. WordPress makes it easy

to add a blog to an existing (or new)

website.

Make sure your site/blog is mobile

friendly so Google doesn’t punish

you in the search rankings.

In-house or Outsource?In-house Outsource

Pro: Someone within your

company is going to know

more intimately about

your culture and

processes (requiring less

research)

Con: Current employees

already have duties or are

not experienced in

business blogging

Pro: Outsourcing lets someone who is experienced, efficient, and professional manage the blog aspect of your branding

Con: Someone who is not within the business/industry will need more research time including potential interviews, etc.

How do I decide?

How much time am I or my employees spending on

the blog (and how does that translate to potential

billable hours they could be doing instead)?

Am I getting the returns I want on the blog that make

the investment I’m making so far worth it? If not, why?

Are other alternatives available besides outsourcing

that would help me accomplish my goals? These

include paying a one-time consultation for the

employee who write the blog, changing which

employee write the blog?

Are there qualified freelance business bloggers

available in my area? What about a full-service

marketing agency that might offer the same service?

All about that voice Voice is part of branding and includes tone, word

choice

Voice can and should evolve as the company evolves

Business owner must be involved even for outsourced blogs

Voice should reflect the company as an entity not the owner, even in a family business

When you have multiple writers, determine if they write in their individual (but related) voices or a “corporate” voice. In other words, are the blogs from individuals or always from the brand no matter who writes?

Establishing voice Character/Persona (is the voice: friendly,

warm, inspiring, playful, authoritative, professional?)

Tone (is the voice: personal, humble, clinical, honest, direct, scientific?)

Language (is the voice: complex, savvy, insider, serious, simple, filled with jargon, fun, whimsical?)

Purpose (is it to engage, educate, inform, enable, entertain, delight, sell or amplify?)

What Do I Say?

Topics can cover many areas of your

business:

Internal news – sales, new products,

company philosophy

External, industry news – what’s new

or in the news in your industry? Reflect

on the trends and offer insights.

What do I say (continued)

Community news and events,

especially if a particular cause closely

relates to your business.

Personal/personnel news – announce

the birth of a new baby or an

employee’s son’s graduation. (This will

depend on the nature of the business

and employees must give permission.)

Three popular post types

Michael Hyatt

(www.michaelhyatt.com) offers

great advice on structuring three

different kinds of blog posts:

The “how to” post

The “list” post

The “review” post

How Do I Say It?

Key components of a blog post:

350 – 700 words

Attention-getting, keyworded title

Open paragraph has to go immediately to the point

Relevant image(s)

Personal experience (when appropriate)

Main body – make it easy to skim using

subheadings, bullet points, etc.

Close with a discussion question (when

appropriate)

Promoting the Blog

Integrate blog with appropriate social media

Make sure the blog link is visible from your website’s homepage and also listed on pertinent websites

Integrate with company/organization newsletter

Use blog to generate subscribers and build email lists

ResourcesReputable sources for finding ideas, help and other resources:

Hubspot.com

Grammarist.com

Socialmediaexaminer.com

Blog.CollectiveBias.com

MichaelHyatt.com

Zemanta (insertable pictures)

Commons.wikimedia.org (pictures)

Picmonkey.com (Editing photos, adding text)

Canva.com (creating graphics)

Online is forever

and what you say on

your business blog

affects your brand!